Other

The above topics are only some of the concerns facing workforce development professionals. There are, of course, many others. If your interests lie beyond the identified topics, check out these workshops for some of the other issues that face our system heading into the 21st Century.

Monday, July 16

1:30 p.m.-3:00 p.m.

AACC Award Winners Workshop 
Learn about the critical roles that community colleges can play in building strong local workforce development systems. This workshop will focus on the leadership, partnership, and exemplary programs that four community colleges – all winners of the 2001 AACC/DOL Workforce Development Award – have brought to their local workforce systems. The session will feature lessons for building strong relationships and ideas for an array of high-quality workforce services that can be delivered in colleges and by other providers.

Certifying Soft Skills in the 21st Century
Speakers: Anna-Liisa Aunio, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD; Scott Brainard, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD; Melissa Siberts, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 
The SCANS 2000 Center at Johns Hopkins University will present its Career Transcript System (CTS) to those interested in “soft skill” training and certification. The CTS is a tool to assist employers, workers, and organizations that educate, train, and place people in jobs to meet the labor market realities of the 21st Century. Based upon the SCANS skills, CTS can be used to assist people to further develop the skills that really count in today’s workplace and certify those skills in a valid portable credential.

3:30 p.m.-5:00 p.m.

Marketing America’s Workforce Network
Speakers: Mason Bishop, NASWA, Washington, DC; Eric Johnson, USDOL / ETA, Washington, DC; Janet Reingold, Reingold Associates, Washington, DC 
America’s Workforce Network is the nationwide system that provides the services and information necessary to help workers manage their careers and employers find skilled workers. In order to promote the services available under the AWN umbrella, ETA has launched a marketing initiative that aims to co-brand with state and local service areas. The first component of this initiative is the development of a mini CD-ROM that contains information on, and access to, the services and programs provided through the One-Stop system.

Marketing Workforce Development Services to Diverse Populations
Speakers: Lucia Fluegal, Goodwill Industries, Bethesda, MD; Titus Herman, Goodwill Industries, Portland, OR; Marguerite Schaffer, Goodwill Industries, Los Angeles, CA; Brad Turner, Goodwill Industries, Bethesda, MD
This session will feature speakers who will describe successful techniques for marketing workforce development services to a diverse population. Session attendees will learn the processes involved when marketing to specific target groups, such as a disadvantaged population, as well as take away valuable, practical strategies to try in their own markets.

San Antonio Youth Opportunity: Creating Opportunities for Enterprise Community Youth
Speakers: Jan Gonzalez, YO! Program, San Antonio, TX; Belkiss Rodriguez, St. Phillip’s Community College, San Antonio, TX; Joe Wilson, Lockheed Martin, San Antonio, TX
The prescription for attracting and retaining quality workers depends on a strong dose of dedicated partners that share a common vision. The San Antonio Youth Opportunity Program has launched a new effort aimed at curing the workforce development needs for the city’s youth and high-technology community. The presenters will provide an overview of the program services that include case management, career exploration training/coaching, and collaborative agreements with the local community college district, private industry (Lockheed Martin), and the government workforce development professionals.

Tuesday, July 17

8:30 a.m.-10:00 a.m.

Growing Technological Opportunities in America’s Heartland
Speakers: Jean Bennett, Green Thumb, Sioux Falls, SD; Charlie Bryson, Green Thumb, Schleswig, IA; Nancy Falk, Green Thumb, Arlington, VA; Bonnie Staley-Gruetzmacher, Green Thumb, Arlington, VA
In this learning forum, we will look at how this project: (1) Provides new training, technology, and revitalization opportunities for rural residents and communities, (2) Develops innovative strategic alliances involving public/private partnerships, (3) Encourages growth of e-commerce, (4) Discourages out-migration of skilled workers. Be ready for presentations, case studies, humor, and good ole fashioned one-room schoolhouse interactive learning!

Whole Person Assessment: Introducing the O*NET Career Exploration Tools 
Speakers: Pam Frugoli, USDOL / ETA, Washington, DC; Phil Lewis, Nat. Center for O*NET Develop., Washington, DC; David Rivkin, Nat. Center for O*NET Develop., Washington, DC 
Participants will be introduced to the new paper and automated O*NET Career Exploration Tools”!: Interest Profilers, Work Importance Profiler, Work Importance Locator, and Ability Profiler. These assessments encourage self-empowering, whole person career exploration. They are particularly useful in the life-long process of career decision-making and development. They can help attendees meet assessment requirements under WIA. During the workshop, attendees will try out the tools, learn about their development and implementation.

10:30 a.m.-12 noon

Hartford Construction Jobs Initiative: Building Futures in the Building Trades 
Speakers: Shaun Cashman, CT Dept. of Labor, Wethersfield, CT; Yolanda Rivera, PROGRESS, Hartford, CT; Pamela Walsh, PROGRESS, Hartford, CT
Hartford has a major workforce challenge in the new millennium: prepare a workforce of city residents for hundreds of jobs created by $675 million of downtown renovation. The Hartford Construction Jobs Initiative (HCJI) has successfully prepared over 300 city residents for construction careers. The primary contractor, PROGRESS, a CBO collaborative, recruits and trains residents for apprenticeships and jobs averaging $15 per hour.

1:30 p.m.-3:00 p.m.

Apprenticeship in the 21st Century
Speakers: Anthony Swoope, USDOL / ETA Washington, DC; James Van Erden, Goodwill Industries, Bethesda, MD; Mary Wiberg, IA Dept. of Education, Des Moines, IA
Registered Apprenticeship is a proven training system that produces highly skilled workers to meet the demands of employers competing in a global economy. In the U.S. today, some 37,000 program sponsors, representing over a quarter of a million employers, industries, and companies, offer registered apprenticeship training to over 360,000 apprentices. Speakers will engage the audience about a method of training that is over 4,000 years old yet is constantly evolving to meet the needs of our changing workforce.

LWIB Customer Satisfaction Strategies using the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) in Nine States
Speaker: Barry Goff, Charter Oak Group, Glastonbury, CT; Rachel Ramirez, Workforce Excellence Network, Washington, DC; Vic Trunzo, Workforce Excellence Network, Washington, DC
This workshop will present the experiences of nine states whose local areas used the ACSI in conjunction with a broader strategy for making customer satisfaction a useful tool in monitoring WIA success and supporting continuous improvement. Attendees will gain a practical knowledge of how the ACSI can be used with other data to support excellence in program development and service delivery. Attendees will receive RFP models for hiring survey contractors, sample surveys, a variety of analysis strategies for the data obtained, and report formats for making sense of customer satisfaction and related data.

Overview of Discover O*NET: The Language of Occupational Intelligence
Speaker: Rick Maher, Maher & Maher, Little Silver, NJ
Learn how workforce development pros are being trained to roll out O*NET to front-line staff, emphasizing its application in core work processes such as job order taking, placement, assessment, counseling and training referrals. Discover O*NET is the third O*NET training program and complements the “Value of O*NET” and the “O*NET Quick Start” sessions that have been delivered across the nation. The purpose of this session is to give attendees an overview of the Discover train-the-trainer curriculum.

3:30 p.m.-5:00 p.m.

Cross Training in Disability Issues for One-Stop Personnel
Speakers: Donald Dew, George Washington University, Washington, DC; James Jeffers, George Washington University, Washington, DC; Fred McFarlane, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA
This workshop focuses on the skills needed by One-Stop system personnel to provide high quality services to people with disabilities, particularly people with significant disabilities, that lead to employment. This session will present an array of training and technical assistance resources available from the Regional Rehabilitation Continuing Education Program (RRCEP). The workshop will also provide a description of how the national collaborative partnerships of RRCEP’s contribute to the education and training of those personnel specifically through the utilization of technology.

Making Sense of Information and Tools to Facilitate Customers’ Career Development and Planning 
Speakers: Liz Barnett, Mississippi SOICC, Jackson, MS; Marc Breton, MN Dept. of Economic Security, St. Paul, MN; Holly Harber, MO Dept. of Economic Develop., Jefferson City, MO; Mark Mehmert, Missouri SOICC, Jefferson City, MO
In this session, representatives from three state career information delivery systems will present models of how they provide training and information for workforce professionals on career development. The models will include outlines for the training content and explanation of the types of information needed to facilitate the career development of customers. In addition to the models, resources to use in training and contacts for career information delivery systems who provide training in each state will be listed.

Washington Update
Speakers: Robert Knight, Nat. Association of Workforce Boards, Washington, DC; Tom Lindsley, Nat. Alliance of Business, Washington, DC
This session will provide an overview of many of the issues in workforce development policy that will engage the Administration and Congress in the weeks and months ahead. The session will provide an analysis of what is happening on the Hill, in the White House, and in the Federal Departments. Discussion topics will include the appropriations process and regulatory issues and initiatives that will affect WIA oversight and reauthorization. This session will also examine a variety of legislative initiatives pending in Congress for education reform, postsecondary training, and literacy that may impact public training program services.

Wednesday, July 18

10:30 a.m.-12 noon

ETA’s Data Validation & Verification System
Speakers: Jim Aaron, USDOL / ETA, Washington, DC; William Borden Mathematica Policy Research Princeton, NJ
This session will present an overview of ETA’s approach to developing a cross-cutting data validation methodology for ten workforce development programs. The validation will help ensure that program reports and performance measures are accurate and reliable. The methodology will include specifications to develop files for participant outcomes used to calculate and analyze performance. The methodology will be provided to States and Grantees for each of the programs and will be overseen by ETA regional and national office staff. The presentation is designed to elicit comments from stakeholders as important feedback for ETA’s design effort.

Workforce Excellence Network Membership Recruitment